Saudi Arabia’s Power & Water Utility Company for Jubail & Yanbu (Marafiq) has received bids for an engineering programme management contract for the Jubail and Yanbu industrial cities.

Seven companies submitted proposals at the end of July for the deal to provide engineering programme management services for power and water contracts at the industrial developments. The deal is for a five-year period, with possible extensions of two years and then an additional year.

The firms that submitted bids are:

• Fluor (US)
• Foster Wheeler (US)
• KBR (US)
• Kentz (UK)
• Mott MacDonald (UK)
• SNC Lavalin (Canada)
• WorleyParsons (Australia)

The US’ Jacobs Engineering had been the engineering programme manager for power and water projects.

Together with state utility companies Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), and state oil major Saudi Aramco, Marafiq is moving ahead with plans to boost power and desalination capacity and improve networks.

In its 2012 annual report, SEC forecasts that peak power demand will rise from 51,900MW to 85,000MW in 2020 and 120,000MW by 2030. As a result, the government is pressing ahead with an ambitious programme to build new generation capacity and replace ageing facilities.

Aramco and SEC are planning to develop a cogeneration plant at the Fadhili oil field in the Eastern Province of the kingdom.

Aramco will be the offtaker for the steam component and SEC the offtaker for the produced electricity at the gas-fired power plant. Aramco will use the steam to power the 1 billion cubic-foot-a-day (cf/d) gas processing plant planned at the Fadhili field.

The oil firm and SEC have invited developers to express interest in developing the cogeneration plant as an independent power project (IPP).

The IPP will have a power generation capacity of about 1,300-1,500MW and will have a steam production capacity of about 2.25 million pounds an hour (lb/h).